LAME DUCK | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of lame duck in English lame ducknoun [ C ] uk /ˌleɪm ˈdʌk/ us /ˌleɪm ˈdʌk/

lame duck noun [C] (UNSUCCESSFUL)

Add to word list Add to word list an unsuccessful person or thing someone or something that is not successful

• failureThe shuttle launch was a complete failure.
• successThe operation was a success.
• turkeyI really wanted to like it, but that show ended up being a real turkey.
• clunkerUS That pitch was a real clunker.
• bombUS His website was one of the biggest dotcom bombs in the history of the internet.
• dudMy charger doesn't work - I think I've got a dud.

See more results » Unsuccessful (people and things)

• abortive
• abortively
• achiever
• be dead in the water idiom
• best laid plans
• fruitless
• fruitlessly
• fruitlessness
• frustrated
• futile
• on the ropes idiom
• prove futile
• redemption
• rope
• run out of road idiom
• up and down idiom
• vain
• vainly
• washed up
• you and whose army? idiom

See more results »

lame duck noun [C] (POLITICS)

an elected official whose power is reduced because the person who will replace them has already been elected International relations: United States politics & government

• anti-democrat
• anti-Republican
• battleground state
• bicameral
• G-man
• gubernatorial
• homeland security
• House Committee
• impeach
• roll call vote
• secret service
• secretary
• secretary of defense
• the Articles of Confederation
• the GOP
• the Republican Party
• the White House
• vote-o-rama
• voting district
• wheeling

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Elections (Definition of lame duck from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

lame duck | American Dictionary

lame ducknoun [ C ] us /ˈleɪm ˈdʌk/ Add to word list Add to word list a person who still has time to serve in an elected position despite not being elected again in a recent election, with the result that the person has no real power (Definition of lame duck from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

lame duck | Business English

lame ducknoun [ C ] uk us Add to word list Add to word list an unsuccessful person, thing, or organization: A lot of time and effort goes into supporting employees who are essentially lame ducks. This is regarded by many as a lame-duck initiative that has failed to deliver its promises. POLITICS an elected official whose power is reduced because the person who will replace them has already been elected: The two years he has before he's perceived as a lame duck will be the most powerful period of his presidency. a person in a position of authority in a company or organization whose power is reduced because their time in the job is about to end: It's frustrating that the present MD is a lame duck and can't really change anything very much. (Definition of lame duck from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of lame duck

lame duck Finally, highly fractionalised parties in government enervated the authority of the executive and rendered prime ministers vulnerable to the problem of the lame duck. From the Cambridge English Corpus Therefore, in a perfect election, during the sitting president's lame duck period, the president-elect usually signals only obliquely that there will be a ritual burial of the predecessor. From the Cambridge English Corpus It is far from being a lame duck. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I wish to make clear that, in the longer term, the industry does not regard itself as a lame duck. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 It started with the famous "lame duck" speech. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Certainly the philosophy of the "lame duck" cannot be applied to this area, unless we are to accept the gravest political consequences. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 In other words, the lame duck policy was put into operation. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I am afraid that on this occasion he has not only produced a lame duck but has gilded it with taxpayers' money. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I apologise for referring again to the "lame duck" philosophy, but really this is an irrelevant approach. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 It is quite wrong for any newspaper to suggest that the board is a lame duck. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 In the circumstances, should we not have a new definition of what is a lame duck? From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 In 1970, during their lame duck period, they said that they would abolish it at the end of the seven years. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 It is helping the lame duck at the expense of bond holders rather than the taxpayer. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I do not think that it is a lame duck. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 We are therefore not discussing a company which is a lame duck. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 See all examples of lame duck These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of lame duck?

Translations of lame duck

in Chinese (Traditional) 不成功的, 不太成功的人（或事物）, 美國政治… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 不成功的, 不太成功的人（或事物）, 美国政治… See more in Spanish caso perdido, político sin capacidad de maniobra, política sin capacidad de maniobra… See more in Portuguese fracasso, político em final de mandato, política em final de mandato… See more Need a translator?

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • lame duck (UNSUCCESSFUL)
    • lame duck (POLITICS)
• American   Noun
• Business   Noun
• Examples

• Translations
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